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| Company type | Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports equipment |
| Founded | 1950; 75 years ago (1950) inBaltimore, Maryland |
| Founder | Howard Head |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Howard Head(founder) Johan Eliasch(CEO) |
| Products | Sportswear,equipment,footwear |
| Brands | Head Aqualung Indigo Mares Penn SSI Tyrolia Zoggs[1] |
| Revenue |  $375.4 million(2014)[2] |
 $2.8 million(2014)[2] | |
Number of employees | 2,499(2014)[2] |
| Parent | Head Austria GmbH Head N.V.[3] (formerly) |
| Subsidiaries | Penn Mares |
| Website | head.com |
Head Sport GmbH is an American-Austrianmanufacturing company headquartered inKennelbach. It owns the American tennis racket brand Head. Head GmbH is a group that includes several previously independent companies, including the original "Head Ski Company" (founded in theUnited States in 1950); Tyrolia, an Austrian ski-equipment manufacturer; andMares, an Italian manufacturer of diving equipment.[3]
Head currently produces products forskiing,snowboarding,swimming,tennis and otherracket sports. Head Ski Company produced one of the first successful metal-woodcompositedownhill skis, theHead Standard, and one of the first oversized metal tennis rackets.[4]
Head Sport GmbH was founded in 1950, inBaltimore, Maryland, by aeronautical engineerHoward Head, after he took a ski trip and was surprised to find his skis were made of wood in an era when metals and plastics were replacing wood in many product designs. Head worked at theGlenn L. Martin Company where they used a form of aluminum and plastic laminate to build the fuselages of aircraft, and he felt the same material would make an ideal ski. By the winter of 1950 they had a design that was durable enough to use and turning significantly easier.[citation needed]
TheHead Standard rapidly grew in sales through the 1950s, until it and other Head designs were capturing over 50% of the US market during the 1960s, making them the leading ski manufacturer in the US and the UK. Head resisted the change to fiberglass construction. In 1967, Howard Head hired Harold Seigle as company president and became theChairman of the Board andCEO. In 1969 Head sold the company to theAMF, and took up tennis. He later bought a controlling interest inPrince Sports.
In the late 1960s, atennis division was created when Howard Head figured out a way of strengthening thetennis racket by introducing thealuminium frame. The aluminum frame racket was first introduced in the 1969US Open. After Howard Head's departure, one of the tennis players that Head sponsored,Arthur Ashe, wonWimbledon, defeatingJimmy Connors in 1975. Also during the 1970s, Head acquired a diving manufacturer, Mares, and aski binding company, Tyrolia. While under AMF ownership, Head manufactured tennis racquets inBoulder, Colorado, and Kennelbach, Austria. Also in 1969, Head signedOlympic champion ski racerJean-Claude Killy to endorse a new metal andfiberglass ski, the Killy 800. Head subsequently developed a product line of Killy skis.
In 1985,Minneapolis-based Minstar Inc. acquired Head throughhostile takeover of AMF.[5] Two years later, Head started making athletic footwear and introduced the "Radial Tennis Shoes". The following year, Head opened a new plant in Australia to produce more tennis rackets. In 1989, management bought out Head, Tyrolia, and Mares, to form HTM. The takeover was backed by private equity firmFreeman Spogli & Co. In 1993, HTM was sold to tobacco conglomerate Austria Tabak.Johan Eliasch, the current chairman, took over the company in 1995, which in 2014 was a Netherlands Antilles corporation.[6]
Head also licenses its brand to makers of clothing apparel (including shoes), accessories, bicycles, skates, watches, balls, fitness equipment, and drinks.[7][8][9]
In2012, three Major winners won using Head rackets:Novak Djokovic at theAustralian Open,Maria Sharapova at theFrench Open andAndy Murray at theUS Open.[10] The success at Grand-slam level continued throughout the 2010s, into the 2020s, withMarin Čilić winning the2014 US Open using a Head racquet,[11][12] and Jannik Sinner winning the2024 Australian Open using a Head Speed.[13][14]
Head started integratinggraphene into their rackets in 2013.[15]
In 2019, Head purchased ASE assets,[16] the owner ofFuji Bikes,Breezer Bikes,SE Bikes,Kestrel Bikes,Tuesday Bikes,PHAT Bikes,Oval, Performance Bicycle Stores andNashbar. On January 22, 2019, it was reported that Head Sports backed out of the deal to buy ASE.[17]
Some of the athletes sponsored by Head are:
Anna Fenninger[18]
Lara Gut[19]
Kjetil Jansrud[20]
Ted Ligety[21]
Alexis Pinturault[22]Cyprien Richard[23]Aksel Lund Svindal[24]
Ramkumar Ramanathan
Luisa Stefani.jpg)
